Prevent Finish Shedding

[sparrowhawk]

I've had terrible luck with smooth, high gloss finishes. One was a Stanwell, another a Peterson Atlantic. Today I received a gorgeous Peterson D-17 with a spectacular gray finish. I gingerly smoked it once, expecting it to explode in an acne of gloss bubbles. No bubbles. Is there a way to avoid this pipe from shedding it's glossy finish, limiting how often it's smoked, avoiding smoking it to the bottom of the bowl,etc? Any and all thoughts on the matter appreciated.

 

[tschiraldi]

Stop buying Petersons.

 

[Waning Embers]

That will eventually happen with all lacquered pipes. As for shine on a non lacquered pipe, you can always rewax, though I prefer the dulling that comes with age.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Stop buying Petersons.

I've not had this problem with any of my Petersons. But I have heard about it happening on occasion. Not only to Peterson pipes though.

 

[jpmcwjr]

None of my Petes had a lacquer finish, fwiw.
Heat is the problem, but if the finish is a good one, you can smoke to the bottom. (Of course, laying off if it starts to feel quite hot at any point)
Got photo?

 

[sparrowhawk]

Your wish is my command, good sir. The first shot is how the pipe appears at a cursory glance; an extreme close up will reveal a faint brown, much less intense than this second photo which blazed from the camera flash at close distance. There really is no adequate description unless you see it for yourself or have a photo shot by a pro. BTW, this stain also appears on the Prince churchwarden.

 

[mawnansmiff]

I have a lacquered Dr. McQuade bent bulldog, bought as an estate and the lacquer has never peeled or bubbled. I also have a lacquered BC and that bubbles like crazy!
I never knew Peterson lacquered their pipes.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[sasquatch]

Many pipes are lacquered or have some other hard shell treatment (urethane, acrylic). Often this is also colored, and it's a way for manufacturers to offer a uniform product - getting a pipe to be a single color just with stain is more time consuming.
The issue is, as a pipe heats up, it tries to blow moisture out the pores of the wood. All wood has ambient moisture (unless you live on the moon I guess). Heat that up, it tries to escape. Some finishes allow this, some don't, and some finishes seem to hold up just fine, and others bubble up and peel off. Might depend on the finish, might depend on who was applying it that day.

 

[papipeguy]

My Peterson Summertime XL90 went from a beautiful blue to dull after a few bowls. Unless I have the pipe in direct sun light I can;t tell it's blue any more. Good smoker but somewhat disappointed that the vibrant color is not present.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Well Let me tell you this, all of my medium(up to $100)which come from factory with various degree of lacquere or other similar type of light coatings,all these went to dull after few bowls, Savinellis, Stanwells,and Petersons and all these had very light varnish coat done by the manufacturers, In addition to aforementioned I have three pipes with high gloss finish, to name these are,Peterson Killarney, Rattrays Highland and Chacom XV 11 Canadian so far finishing on these are intact and no peeling or bubbling present,

 

[sparrowhawk]

Well, I've been smoking away through the D-17 all week, and no sign of shedding of the glossy finish, and the pipe itself delivers the usual fantastic Peterson smoke. No doubt the color will change over the years but that's to be expected. Knock on wood...

 

[zack24]

If it's a film (lacquer)...hot smoking can produce bubbles. A thinned coat of shellac to seal the color will not bubble...